GEM Days 4a/14: first generation GEM Micromatic Open Comb - Wed 20 Nov 2024

• Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts - Papa Eld with Declaration Grooming B3
• Razor: GEM Micromatic Open Comb (first generation)
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. – Oro Valley
• Post Shave: D.R. Harris – Marlborough

Image

This is shave 7 of my run through all 14 generations of GEM-stile razors, and I have reached the first generation MMOC, a.k.a. where GEM razors made the jump from good to great.

The Micromatic Open Comb

Fair warning, I love the Micromatic mechanism and will bore you if you’re not interested in design details.

To recap the story of GEM razors so far: The 1912 is a great shaver and already has half of what makes GEMs great: perfect blade alignment by pressing the edge against blade stops. The two later models of 1914 and 1924 tried to improve upon the design by 1) making loading the blade easier by having a top cap that fully opens, and 2) decoupling the actions of aligning the blade with the stops and clamping the blade by using two separate spring instead of one. So what could GEM improve further if their product already shaves well and loads easily? Make it safer and even easier! The Micromatic twist-to-open mechanism has your fingers safely a few cm away from the edge when the top cap opens. In addition, the top cap opens smoothly, unlike the predecessors’, which is held by buckling springs and opens with a snap motion.

As a second addition, they also modified the blade format to make loading even more easy. Micromatic is the brand name for this razor and also for the new blade format with the three cutouts, see this figure.

Image

The centre cut-out engages with the little post in the centre of the base plate to centre the blade. Previously, the 1914 and 1924 Shovelhead had annoying lateral hooks on their base plates that made inserting the blade fiddly, and the 1912’s blade stops grabbed the corners of the blade which also made inserting the blade into the small opening tricky. The Micromatic’s centre cut-out makes inserting the blade child’s play. You literally just place it on the base plate in you’re done. The second set of cut-outs on the sides is where the top cap engages with the blade and pushes it against the stops. We will talk about these lateral cutouts a bit more with tomorrow’s second generation MMOC.

It is clear that the company’s decision here was to produce a high-tech razor (for the 1930ies), with many machined parts and a clever, but robust twist-to-open mechanism. This represents GEM/ASR Ever-Ready’s third attempt at replacing the cheap 1912 (which is still chugging along successfully) and it’s a bullseye in terms of robustness and ergonomics. Now this first Micromatic has a reputation for being aggressive, but that’s a question of preference and GEM will address it thoroughly over the next four generations of Micromatics.

The shave

Today is already the third Wednesday of the month, which means that it’s Buena Vista Wetshaving Social Club meeting day. This month, see have chosen Stirling Oro Valley. Rod one told us that it was his favourite dupe (or was it the most successful? Not sure anymore), and I can see why. A rich warm leather scent. There is a bright note that feels a bit like citrus to me, but I think that’s my nose playing tricks.

This particular MMOC is the one I used for two consecutive AAs in the GEMs of Wisdom: Finding Serenity in Austerity challenge, and I also took a blade to 100 shaves in it. In other words, it’s my favourite safety razor and I get the smoothest, most efficient shaves from it. It has an unmistakeable pronounced blade feel (great haptic feedback). The angle of the head promotes a flat shave angle (great ergonomics). The crunchy toast buttering audio feedback is legendary.

The timeline

1. 1906-1953: GEM 1912/Star Cadet/Junior/Damaskeene
   • FLS
   • SLS
2. 1914-1927: 1914
   • FLS
   • SLS
3. 1924-1933: 1924 Shovelhead
   • FLS
   • SLS
4. 1930-1932: Micromatic Open Comb Gen 1 (Bumpless baseplate) ← We are here
5. 1932-1941: Micromatic Open Comb Gen 2 (double-edge Micromatic GEM blades)
6. 1940-1943: Micromatic Clog-Pruf
7. 1945-1946: Micromatic Clog-Pruf Peerless
8. 1947-1950: Micromatic Flying Wing/Bullet Tip, with guiding eye until 1948, with plastic knob in the last year
9. 1949-1953: GEM Jewel/Streamline/Ambassador (The beginning of the end IMHO)
10. 1950: New GEM Feather Weight, renamed to “Slim-V Flat Top” in 1953, British version sold as “Natural Angle” by Ever-Ready
11. 1955-1958: GEM V-Slim “Heavy Flat Top” (G-Bar, shiny chrome), New V Natural Angle Heavy Flat Top (E-Bar, less shiny nickel)
12. 1958-1965: Push Button
13. 1965-1973: Contour
14. 1973-1979: Countour II (The last GEM razor)